Sunday, July 19, 2020

3 Perfect Ways to Wrap Up Your Answers in an Interview

3 Perfect Ways to Wrap Up Your Answers in an Interview You have submitted your job application with high hopes. The wait for the interview call is getting long and painful.Finally, the hiring manager has invited you for an interview after a long time.Congratulations, you have successfully removed the first obstacle in your way to getting your dream job.Now, you are fully committed to surmounting all the hurdles and difficulties to fulfill your dreams. If you are a serious candidate and really want to land the job you are so thrilled about, you will work day and night to prepare for the interview.You must do everything within your limits to make the most of the opportunity. You will research the company and contact the current and previous employees and inquire about the work environment, the companys culture and hiring procedure.You will go to great lengths to prepare answers and stories for those irritating questions which make candidate shiver during the interview.There is one thing which most candidates get wrong during the interview no matter how well prepared they are.They make a cardinal mistake of ending their stories or answers abruptly. They initially succeed in catching the interviewers attention by narrating a fantastic story from their experiences until they reach the end.Suddenly, they will finish the story with an awkward pause or meaningless phrase such as and…. yeah.The flubbing, in the end, will break any spell you have cast on the interviewer.There is no way you can prepare for each question the hiring manager may ask you.Practice can help, but you cannot predict every interview question and  cannot prepare answers for all of them.One thing you can do is to conclude your interview on the positive note by avoiding all the mistakes which can put-off the interviewer.Even the most powerful of resumes or years of experience cannot save you if you keep on making critical mistakes during the interview.It is the interview where you win or lose your job.Therefore, taking a few extra steps before the inte rview to display the highest level of competence and crafting the best answers for pesky questions is the way to go. 3 TIPS TO FINISH YOUR ANSWERSFollowing are some of the best tips to perfectly close your interview and get the offer letter on most of the occasions.Relate the Answers Back to the CompanyAll the questions hiring managers ask have clear as well as secret meanings.For instance, what are your greatest strengths? is the most common question you face in an interview.The hiring manager apparently wants you to highlight your strengths, but he actually  wants to know your top areas of expertise.What you have been doing for your previous organizations? What are your core skills and how did you master them? You must strive hard to get to the essence of the questions if you want to dominate the interview.For example, Tell us about yourself? has dozens of questions within a question.In your answer, you need to pinpoint your key strengths which can be greatly  beneficial for the c ompany.What are the skills and experiences you can bring to the table?Before you answer, try to understand why the interviewer is asking this question  in the first place.The only way to perfectly conclude an interview is to uncover hidden questions behind apparently straightforward and simple behavioral questions.You can unveil these questions by thinking long and hard about:Why they are asking the question?What is their real concern?What extra information do they want to derive from my answer?Do they want to know if I can fulfill the job responsibilities competently?Are they testing if I am familiar with job duties?Do they want to see if I can handle ambiguous questions? This is not usually the case. They are hiring managers, not psychologists.What is their state of mind?Never ever miss the actual plot.Always take time and ponder why they are putting forward that question.Dont just jump to the conclusion of your answer or you cannot get the gist of their real intentions.It is impo ssible for any candidate to instantly create answers for the more difficult behavioral questions. Unfortunately, you will have to  face and answer these questions in almost every interview.Fortunately, there are not too many of these questions which hiring managers ask every candidate.Some of the most popular behavioral questions include:Tell us about yourself.Why do you want to join this company?Tell us about your strengths and weaknesses.Where do you see yourself in five years?Why did you leave your previous company?What you can do for our organization if hired?Tell us how you work under pressure?Explain with an example how do you handle a challenge?Give an example of your creativity.Give an example of how you attained your goals in your previous position.How do you handle a difficult situation?You can expect to face most of the above questions in almost every interview.Therefore, it is your own duty to prepare answers which not only show your enthusiasm, interest, and passion for the job, but also how the organization will benefit if they hire you.Think about an impressive finishing line or phrase for every question which directly relates to the company you have applied for.For example, the hiring manager will most definitely ask you the question about your duties in your previous company and the experiences you gained.After telling your main story, you can wrap your answer on the following lines.I have gained new skills and experiences in languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript while working as a Front End Developer for KS Media.That is why I am excited about this position as it will also allow me to practice my skills and contribute greatly to the collective welfare of the company including its owners and employees.This is just one of the many stories you can fabricate to strongly finish your answers.Some other lines you can include while concluding your answers are … and this is the reason why  I am drawn to this position or This job provides me with a great opportunity to use my knowledge and a knack for attention to details.Or, I want to join this company because it values transparency and recognizes the individual and collective contributions.Ask Your Own QuestionsAsking your own questions is a great method of finding more information about the organization.There is no better time to ask questions than when you are concluding your answers.The interview should always be two-way traffic.Try to have a great first impression on the hiring manager and build some  rapport by converting the interview into a conversation.This is only possible  if you have your own questions to ask regularly throughout the interview. Sometimes, hiring managers will allow you to switch roles with them in the later stages of the interview. They will encourage you to ask questions about the position and the company.This is the best chance for you to shine brightly and outperform your competitors.Ask all the questions you can think of and make the most of this opportunity.Hiring managers will sometimes provide you with valuable information which you cannot find anywhere else by answering your questions.These insightful questions help you reveal your professionalism, promise, and thoughtfulness.There are quite a few questions you can ask while wrapping your answers.Some of them are as follows.What do you expect me to do during the first 3 months or probation period?Why is this position open?Do you provide opportunities for professional development and training?You can even ask hiring managers what they enjoy the most about their organization.What are the criteria for measuring performance in the organization?What are the most important aspects of this position?Which part of the job is the most difficult?How do you give feedback to your employees?Have I said anything which makes you think again about my suitability for the job?So, if someone asks do you like to work independently or collaboratively, you can follow your answer with a q uestion of your own.For example, wrap your answer by asserting on the fact that  you like to work in a team.Use words like, As I have mentioned before, I am a big team player.I love to help and take guidance from others. I always prefer collaboration over individuality as it enables me to be more creative and productive.While we are still on this topic, can you please tell me more about how different teams work in your organization?This is such a wonderful conclusion to this particular  question.You have done yourself a world of favor by showcasing yourself as a brilliant team player because this is what they wanted to find out.Secondly, you have also presented yourself as a confident and self-assured person who does not hesitate to ask questions to add to his knowledge, skills, and repertoire.Thirdly, it will also give you an idea of how a team operates in the organization, making it easier for you to decide whether or not you want to take the job.Almost every hiring manager will l ike to know why you want to join the organization. You should already have an answer ready for this question.It is a tricky question and most of the candidates struggle to explain why they applied for the job confidently and effectively.However, you can take the interviewer off guard by asking a countering question while wrapping your answer.The question can take many forms, but the recommended words are, Can you please tell me more about the history of this position?This is an important query to make.The interviewer will glean from your answer that  you are curious about the position and want to get as much information about the job as possible.It will also help you understand how your predecessor used to work and sculpted the environment you are going to be part of and what the best you can offer is.If you are applying for the position recently opened to support the companys growth, you can inquire who was holding the position before you and how the company intends to transfer the powers.There is nothing wrong in clarifying if the company is also considering an internal resource for the position or not.If they ask what you can do for them in the first three months, you can ask them what they expect you to do during that time period in response.This will enable the hiring managers to know what you can do for them.On the other hand, you will have a fair idea of what the position entails and how it contributes to the overall progress of the company.What skills are necessary to succeed in the position? Who will you support and report to?Similarly, you can manipulate the conversation and show why you are the best fit for the job by asking for specific accomplishments and responsibilities associated with the job.Finally, there are many more questions you can ask the hiring managers.However, do some  research beforehand and determine whether the organization you want to join allows cross questioning during the interviews or they have a set of formal questions they want the candidates to answer.Furthermore, you must keep in mind that a question is only insightful and meaningful if it flows naturally from your conversation with the hiring manager.It might be helpful for you to anticipate and note down the situations which can prompt counter questioning and those which do not.Go Back to Original QuestionIt is a good practice to relate your answers back to the company, but it will not always work.You will sound more formulaic if you relate all your answers to different aspects of the organization.The hiring managers will lose interest in your answers.This is especially true if you have the tendency to speak at tedious lengths.No one including the interviewer has enough time to listen to your stories which seem to have no end. Is there any other option you can take?There is indeed  a solution which will always work that is to summarize your answer in the end  and go back to the original question.This approach will serve many purposes for you.For i nstance, it will present you as a person who has a keen eye for details.Similarly, you will let the hiring manager know you can read others mind, explain your point of view effectively and focus on little things and details even in the most difficult of circumstances.If they want to measure your ability to manage a team, you can say you always try to lead by an example or keeping to the original question, I always try to understand others point of view and what they perceive of an issue before taking any action to resolve a problem or conflict at hand.You must also summarize everything which asserts your position as the best man for the job.Repeat your value proposition to conclude your interview or answer on the right note.It is imperative for you to put a spotlight, a really  giant one, on your profile because you are competing with many other candidates.Talk about your core skills, experience and expertise and how the organization can benefit from them once again right at the end of the interview.Also, ensure that all your selling points are directly related to the job responsibilities.Reiterate that you want to join the company before you shake hands with the interviewer and leave the room. If you are too eager to express your enthusiasm for the job, you have to  display the highest level of engagement.Last but not least; say thank you in a way which is culturally appropriate for the company and never forget to mention that you look forward to working with them before leaving.CONCLUSIONAs a job seeker, you should  conduct extensive research about the companys culture and their hiring procedures to prepare properly for the interview.If the company is a bit  more informal and do not encourage the candidates to ask counter questions, look for other options to impress hiring managers. If they allow you to ask questions that unveil your real abilities and talents, you should  try to use the situation to your advantage.Above lines give a general idea of how you should wrap up your interview questions.If you think these ideas are worth applying on the big day, you must practice them at least a few times before leaving for the interview.The idea is that you should be able to apply these general rules to uncertain situations or while answering the questions you have never heard before.A little practice will also go a long way in securing a job as with all other things associated with the interviews.

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